Maritime economics of the Arctic: Legal regulation of environmental monitoring

Abstract

The current favorable natural conditions (melting of the Arctic ice) and the advance of innovative technologies used for extraction and transportation of unique natural resources are reasons for the growing economic interest of the international community in the Arctic region. Intensified economic activity leads to increased anthropogenic pressure on the highly vulnerable Arctic environment. Because of this, a study of conservation and restoration of the Arctic ecosystem is of utmost importance. Increased extraction of resources in the Arctic involves developing the transport system, including sea freight. We have found out that increased interest of the global community in the development of the Arctic led to an increase in the number of countries willing to influence the economic activity in the Arctic, including organizing sea freight. The growing number of participants with their expanding range of competing interests hinders the search for coordinated solutions. So far, the unique legal status of the Arctic has not been established at the international level. The paper confirms that the national legislation of Russia does not offer the full opportunities for forming a system of environmental monitoring either, and, therefore, it does not allow to carry out a full economic assessment of the costs of restoring the Arctic ecosystem. We have proposed the key directions for reorganizing the environmental monitoring system, based on recognition of the unique status of the Arctic; these directions can form the future basis for the assessment procedure concerning marginal social costs and benefits of developing the Arctic spaces and making decisions on the scale and trends of its development.